


Ugly Sweater Season

by raven_bird



Series: Christmas Challenge 2015 [22]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Christmas, F/F, Fluff, Madam Malkins, Silver Trio friendship, Ugly Sweaters, clothing store, lost bets
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-23
Updated: 2015-12-23
Packaged: 2018-05-08 14:25:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,146
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5500625
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/raven_bird/pseuds/raven_bird
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The group took one look at the sweaters and balked.</p>
<p>“Those aren’t ugly enough,” said Neville, shaking his head.</p>
<p>A girl behind him groaned. “Neville. Let’s just get these. There’s no need to torture me any more than this.”</p>
<p>Written for the prompt: Character A loses a bet and has to wear a different ugly Christmas sweater every day till Christmas. Character B works at a clothes store.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Ugly Sweater Season

**Author's Note:**

> Written for [this Christmas Prompt Challenge](http://alloftheprompts.tumblr.com/post/134349883493/25-days-christmas-romance-challenge)

Madame Malkin’s shop is filled with customers. Astoria, at first, is too overwhelmed with their constant questions and complaints to notice the crowd of people at the back of the store, flipping through the sweaters that had been discarded by more fashionable shoppers. It was only after she had managed to appease a particularly fussy shopper that she approached the group.

 

“Hi,” she said, handing them one of the Christmas coupons that Madame Malkin had created, “Is there anything I can help you with? I’m Astoria.”

 

“Oh, nothing, we’re just looking,” said the freckled boy. She nodded and was about to step away when one of the girls spoke up.

 

“Neville! She can help us!” The girl tilted her head at Astoria, blue eyes widened. “Do you have any ugly sweaters?”

 

Astoria vaguely recognized her as a Ravenclaw, one year above her. She had, on occasion, heard some of the other Slytherins snickering about her choice of clothing and odd accessories. Astoria, though, had always admired Luna’s individuality.

 

Astoria motioned them forward. This, she knew, would be easy to help them with. She couldn’t even begin to count how many people had arrived at Madame Malkin’s to purchase ‘ugly’ Christmas sweaters -- in truth, they only wanted a handful of oversized patterned sweaters. There was nothing ugly about them, really.

 

Directing their attention to the display of sweaters, she prepared to leave them to decide. The group, however, took one look at them and balked.

 

“Those aren’t ugly enough,” said Neville, shaking his head.

 

A girl behind him groaned. “Neville. Let’s just get these. There’s no need to torture me any more than this.”

 

This girl, Astoria recognized. Ginny Weasley had been so well-known amongst everyone at Hogwarts that it was almost unthinkable that she could have possibly gone through the school without knowing her name. Ginny, the bold Gryffindor girl who stood up to the Carrows and never for once allowed them to have a moment of peace. Ginny, who half the school had been crushing on, whether they admitted it or not.

 

Neville, stubbornly, shook his head. “Do you have anything more ugly?” He asked Astoria. “Like, something that you wouldn’t wear in public for all the Galleons in the world?”

 

Astoria blinked at the request, but she obligingly gave it some thought.

 

“Follow me,” she said, finally, leading them further into the store. “I have to ask, though. Why all the need for ugly sweaters?”

 

Ginny had fallen into step beside her, at the head of the group. Astoria was all too aware of her flowery scent, her hand swinging only a couple inches from Astoria’s. Clearing her throat, Astoria glanced at Neville and Luna for some sort of explanation.

 

Luna smiled, her gaze directed up at the ceiling at something Astoria could only assume was invisible but to the blonde-haired girl. “Oh, we made a bet with Ginny.”

 

“A bet?” Astoria asked, genuinely curious. She glanced at Ginny, who rolled her eyes.

 

“We said that she couldn’t hold the Starfish and Stick move on her broom for more than five minutes.”

 

“And I  _ could have _ ,” Ginny cut in, “But I didn’t realize that my hands would freeze thirty seconds in.”

 

Neville shrugged, apparently unconcerned.

 

Astoria had never been much of a Quidditch person. It was rare that she even attended her house’s matches during Hogwarts. She looked between them all for some sort of explanation. “What’s the Starfish and Stick?”

 

“A keeper’s move,” Ginny told her, absently pulling her red hair back into a ponytail. “You basically hold onto your broom with one hand, and curl one of your feet around it. Then you hand down, sideways.”

 

Astoria stared at her in disbelief. “That can’t be safe.”

 

“It’s not.” Luna agreed. “But it’s very funny to watch. And apparently it’s quite useful in the game.”

 

“Anyways,” sighed Ginny, pointing at her friends, “These two decided that my punishment for not being able to hold it that long was to wear ugly sweaters until Christmas.”

 

Neville and Luna looked very proud of themselves.

 

“As if it wasn’t punishment enough to fall off my broom to the ground,” muttered Ginny. Astoria shot her a mildly horrified look.

 

“Don’t worry,” Neville assured her, “It wasn’t that far. She’s exaggerating.”

 

Ginny scrunched up her nose. “Oh, sure, dismiss my pain. I’ll have you know that it was entirely your fault, anyways, Longbottom.”

 

Astoria finally found the sweaters she was looking for, an assortment of hideous knitwear that was obviously intended for old women who never went out in public. The shades were as colourful as any fabric could possibly be, and each sweater was patterned with kittens and snowflakes that were created with extra fabric, so they protruded from the rest of the sweater in large, bulky lumps. Despite the fact that they were on sale, the general public had left that particular display untouched. Even the least fashionable people had turned up their noses at it.

 

Luna and Neville broke into identical grins. Ginny buried her face in her hands.

 

Astoria grabbed the first sweater on the pile, handing it to Ginny. It depicted a kneazle, and was enchanted so that the cat-like creature would move around the front to bat at the various pom-poms attached to it.

 

“How can you say no to this?” Astoria asked her, hiding a grin.

 

Ginny met her gaze, her warm brown eyes crinkling at the corners. “Very easily, actually.”

 

Neville looked between them, and, seeming to sense something, tugged at Luna’s sleeve. “We’re going to go look at the scarves. Astoria, make sure she picks appropriately ugly sweaters.”

 

The second they had disappeared from eyesight, Ginny turned to Astoria with a pleading look. “Please let me get away with the not-so-ugly ones. I don’t think that I could stand my brothers’ teasing if  _ all _ of them are this horrid.”

 

“Aw, but then you’d be letting Neville down,” Astoria said, pouting. Ginny’s shoulders dropped in defeat, but Astoria shook her head a moment later. “Don’t worry. We’ll find you something in the middle ground, okay?”

 

“You are a lifesaver,” Ginny murmured, trailing after her as she sorted through the pile of sweaters.

 

Astoria flushed. “Just doing my job.”

 

“No,” Ginny told her, “I don’t think that I would have escaped this with my dignity if it wasn’t for you. Thank you.”

 

Astoria looked at her thoughtfully. “You’re welcome. But honestly, I don’t think any sweater could have taken away from your dignity. You’d look good in all of them.”

 

Ginny smiled at her. “Hey, after your shift… would you like to go out for coffee with me? That is, if you’re not scared to be seen next to someone with the absolute worst sweater on the planet.”

  
Astoria laughed, all worries about dealing with customers forgotten. “That sounds wonderful. Maybe I’ll even dig out an ugly sweater of my own.”

**Author's Note:**

> Please leave a comment or kudos if you enjoyed! Again, rare pair, so anything that I get would be super appreciated ;)
> 
> I'd like to formally thank my copy of _Quidditch Through the Ages_ for providing me with a Quidditch move so I didn't spent too long agonizing over trying to create one of my own.
> 
> You can find me on tumblr at [elderrwands](http://elderrwands.tumblr.com)
> 
> Happy holidays!


End file.
